Ok I need serious ideas now ...

Emerald_city

horse insane!
Jan 6, 2006
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Brinkworth, wiltshire
Jorji is away for breaking - now been away for 7 weeks and has been deemed 'almost unbreakable'

I got an email today and im going to visit him tomorrow but i need ideas now as what on earth can i do next with him!

I've had him since he was just under 4 months old.
I've halter broken him, got him used to EVEYRTHING - Traffic, spooky things, saddles, bridles, everything possible, I lightly backed him last summer - all was ok, he lunges, longreins, freeschools perfectly and the only thing i havent done is break him as I havent the time to break him at the moment with other horses and a full time job.
The yard I've sent him to I trust 110%, they are lovely, and he is cared for wonderfully and on the ground etc he is still as sweet as ever.
At this yard hes even had a dummy on him and he is 100% happy to walk, trot and canter with it on him.

When it comes to riders he is fine for half way around the school and then he just completely bronco's and he is really meaning to get the rider off.
Its been like this now for a couple weeks and the YO's riders are really quite amazing riders and sit the 'hissy fits' of plenty of horses they have/break in, yet 1 rider has been thrown 3 times and lost their nerve to ride him now, hes thrown the YO, and the main trainer of the yard countless amount of times.
Thing is , no hes getting bored of them trying and so now as they are falling hes attempting to double barrell them as they fall.
Yet after they fall , he comes over and is loveable and sweet again, he doesnt go tanking around/bronco-ing after the fall at all.

Hes had a 'backlady' out and she can find nothing wrong, his saddle fits perfectly, and they have tried even a treeless to try, still doing it, they have even tried bareback but all was the same. And the dentist saw him before he left , all was fine.

They had a natural horsemanship person out and they had a huge golf umbrella on him and even that didnt fase him, its litterally just with a rider!

They are lost on what to do now and as imagined the YO is worried for her riders safety now as theres only so many falls you can have without injury.
I am also concerned for their safety and both myself and the YO are baffled and dont know where to go next, I am going up there tomorrow to discuss this with her but i really dont know where to go next :confused:

I really need some advice now, I have experience with youngsters but ive never come across this, ive seen some very difficult to break ones but they managed to come through in the end, it seems almost as though hes not going to have any of it :confused:

EDT - SOrry for the essay !
 
Perhaps they're using more leg than he has been pre prepared for ? Could even be something as simple as him just not being mentally and emotionally ready for it. Not every 4 yr old is mature enough to be backed.
 
Oh my gosh Sara! thats sooo unlike Jorji! what on earth has happened!?
I always thought he was gonna be a little peach to break, he takes absoloutely everything in his stride.
Maybe Louki is right? perhaps he's not ready? especially since what he went through as a foal, maybe he wil just take that extra time to mature?
Or it could just be the riders? too heavy / leggy/ forward with him ?
Maybe you could send him somewhere natural horsemanship-y ? (lol)
Or turn him away for a while?
I really dunno tbh .. hope this gets sorted out, im genuinely shocked.Theres not a malicious bone in that ponies body ..
silly Jorji :(
Hope you sort it hun. xxx
 
Perhaps they're using more leg than he has been pre prepared for ? Could even be something as simple as him just not being mentally and emotionally ready for it. Not every 4 yr old is mature enough to be backed.

Well its not even just that , he's even done it when just no leg and general walking - plus hes very used to flapping stirrups when lunging etc as they did this to desensitise him from it at the start

Well i did think that but he's 5 in june and when i lightly backed him last year he was happy with it but i left him until he was 5 so he would mature more, hes unfased by EVERYTHING except the actual rider and im completely miffed
 
Could you not give him a break and turn him away for a couple of months and see if he is ready then? Doesn't always work but hopefully it would give him time to digest what has been happening and maybe he will feel ready for new ideas then.
My sec a gelding is 4yrs and just isn't ready yet, he' s unbalanced and immature but more than happy doing all the ground work and I really do think a bomb could go off next to him and he wouldn't flinch.
I'm a great believer in the idea that a horse will tell you when he/she is ready(but thats me:eek:).
Goodluck and I wish I had a magic wand for you, horses can be so frustating sometimes:D
 
Oh my gosh Sara! thats sooo unlike Jorji! what on earth has happened!?
I always thought he was gonna be a little peach to break, he takes absoloutely everything in his stride.
Maybe Louki is right? perhaps he's not ready? especially since what he went through as a foal, maybe he wil just take that extra time to mature?
Or it could just be the riders? too heavy / leggy/ forward with him ?
Maybe you could send him somewhere natural horsemanship-y ? (lol)
Or turn him away for a while?
I really dunno tbh .. hope this gets sorted out, im genuinely shocked.Theres not a malicious bone in that ponies body ..
silly Jorji :(
Hope you sort it hun. xxx

I know , thats why me and the YO are so confused, he doesnt have a bad bone in him and yet he wont accept the rider at all :(
 
Could you not give him a break and turn him away for a couple of months and see if he is ready then? Doesn't always work but hopefully it would give him time to digest what has been happening and maybe he will feel ready for new ideas then.
My sec a gelding is 4yrs and just isn't ready yet, he' s unbalanced and immature but more than happy doing all the ground work and I really do think a bomb could go off next to him and he wouldn't flinch.
I'm a great believer in the idea that a horse will tell you when he/she is ready(but thats me:eek:).
Goodluck and I wish I had a magic wand for you, horses can be so frustating sometimes:D

Oh thankyou, They certainly can be!

I think maybe turning him away for a while may be my only option at the moment...
 
Thats what mines like, he accepts the saddle(stirrups flapping) he lets the kids sit on him when he's being groomed or led but saddle plus kids is a no go. Just hoping he will magically be ready in July when we plan to have another go:eek:. Will be watching your thread for ideas though.:p
 
Well thing is i found it VERY difficult to find a yard i knew i could trust and was happy for him to go to so i am reluctant to send him elsewhere as i know what alot of yards do to solve an 'unbreakable' horse :rolleyes:

I think im going to turn him away for the summer and carry on with the lunging/long reining etc and then try myself later in the year when ive got more free time.

Ive also had it mentioned that he could be unsettled by people doing 'odd' things to him when everything else hes been trained has been done by me - Im his safety net and so maybe i need to try it myself anyway!

Serendipity - Same here i'll be keeping an eye on yours aswell then ! :D maybe between us we can find something to suit them ! :p
 
Are they doing him in the same school ever day?
Once he's got the rider off a few times, is he then going back to his stable/field?

My only thought is, if he's quite clever: he may be getting bored and have learnt that getting the rider off means he doesn't have to do any more work.

Is there another school he can be boxed too and worked in? Or a field? I wouldn't suggest out hacking yet, but maybe walked/long reined out for a few days? Just to give him a change of scenery.
Equally if he has got a rider off, make sure he's still being lunged and worked after, even if no one wants to get back on.

If they are doing all that: then I'd say give him a break Make sure hes worked well, maybe had a rider sit on him and walk half a lap, or had the dummy on him or something where he's associated the rider on his back but not chucking them off. Then turn him away a bit. Give him time to think about the person on his back.
 
If he is ok for half a lap before he bucks how about trying a different approach of reward before he gets to the stage of throwing off the rider.IE start with lots of hard work to ensure he is listening and has no excess energy,then put on a rider,walk 2 paces,rider gives a food reward from on board and then gets off.Gradually increase the number of steps before the food reward and if he does buck then the rider gets off and put him back on the lunge/longreins and work him hard again.Obviously this needs to be done over a period of weeks and not all on the same day,but I wonder if this way he will start to see a rider as a good thing and not as something to get rid of.
 
All very good ideas indeed.
And i think i will put them all to practice later in the year, i think at the moment turning away is proberly mu best option but to keep lunging/longreining him and taking him hacking (on lead) with my other horses so hes actively doing work.
But Ive also had people saying if hes so good/practically bombproof with all of this, why dont i try driving him ?

I wouldnt mind giving it a go tbh to see what hes like - even if its just for while hes turned away from riding so hes still actively being used and maturing - He would go loopy if i left him in a feild for months , he loves hacking out and working its just the rider hes not currently happy with..

What do you guys think on this, would slowng getting him used to driving for a while be an option ?
 
It could well be safety net issues & not having trust/confidence in other folks that he has in you. Maby try some very light ridden work yourself & see how he reacts to it, even just as simple as getting the saddle on, getting you on and having someone lead you round the school 2 times in each direction. I wouldnt do overmuch with him if it works. maby work at it twice a week for a while then turn him out to think on it for a while.
 
My rescue pony took 2 attempts to get broken.

The first time he just didn't have enough trust in the new people around him and after 6 weeks we decided after in depth chat with the trainer to take him home. He didn't even get to the stage of accepting a leg bandage round his belly cause he would go crazy but was totally fine with a bit the first time.

So, he just wasn't ready. I feel what he had gone through before I got him made him "backward" for his age.

He was turned away totally for a year, nothing done but basic health checks, rug changes in winter etc etc. He was left to just be a pony.

Then sent to get broken as a 6 year old the second time and he was much more chilled out about it all. It still took 3 months but he was very good and didn't give them too many problems at all.

Your wee guy may be very young for his age if he has had a bad start in life so if you can I would give him a total break and then re-try next year.

Good luck
 
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